Mandatory Re-Testing?
Driver’s license renewal age standards vary from state to state. In Arizona, drivers over the age of 65 have a shorter license renewal cycle. In Hawaii, the renewal cycle drops from every eight years to every two years for persons over 72. In Illinois, the renewal cycle drops from four years to two after the age of 81, and then it drops to a yearly renewal cycle after 87 years.
Underwater Breathing
“The Lord God…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…” (Genesis 2:7, NIV 1984).
I did not read Dr. David Stevens’ email until late that evening when I finished rounds. The morning email had asked for prayer for his grandson’s near drowning and critical condition.
Essay 16: American Conscience Law and Principles Defy the Anti-conscience Movement in Healthcare
Health professionals today who hold to historically noncontroversial moral and ethical standards—such as not killing born or unborn patients—face increasing pressures to compromise those moral and ethical standards. The coercive pressures come from ideologues and activists within and outside medicine, from demanding patients and from the government.
On the Side: April 2019
Her eyes met mine as she poured out her heart: “I have a great husband. A wonderful child. We matched and already sold our house. So, why do I feel so depressed?”
Plain Talk
Sometimes God “talks plain”—usually when our ears are stuffed with the wax of the world. In my own life, these plain-speaking times have not been pleasant. When God has had to “talk plain” in my life, it has been because I was headed in the wrong direction. His words were indeed clear, but they sounded like a two-by-four striking my skull.
Christian Doctor’s Digest – April 2019
In this month’s podcast, Dr. David Stevens is joined by Dr. Steve Manning, a physician from North Carolina who made the jump to Direct Primary Care. Next, he interviews Dr. Tim Elmore about his new book Marching Off the Map.
Adult Stem Cells Are the Gold Standard
Adult stem cells are the successful gold standard of stem cells, especially when it comes to patients and therapies. Adult stem cells are in fact the only type of stem cell to have shown validated, published results of therapeutic benefit to patients. A recent published review of stem cell research documents the significant efficacy gap between embryonic and adult stem cells.
Overcoming Isolation
Drunk, rowdy, and foul smelling, he came into a busy clinic last night. He was roomed immediately to get the disruption out of the waiting room, but his volume penetrated the walls and disrupted multiple other clinic rooms. He had no ID, wouldn’t tell us his name and had no chief complaint.
Witness by Proxy
“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus would not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’” (Mark 5:18-19, NIV 1984).
Transgender Athletics: A Justice Issue
Nobody who knows me would call me an athlete. If I wasn’t picked last for team sports at school, then it was next to last. Every time. Because of this pathetic natural ability, I have never been one who availed myself of all the sports opportunities I was given.
The Ptarmigan Trail
“‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked…” (John 18:38, NIV 1984).
I spoke again to my friend in the mountains, the one who follows Buddha rather than Christ, the one who suffered multiple surgeries from a skateboard accident. We met up again in Colorado when I was there recently for a medical conference. We climbed together to the Ptarmigan Lakes at 12,500 feet, wrapped in the grandeur of God’s creation. I shared the gospel and he shared his faith in Buddhism.
Christian Doctor’s Digest – March 2019
The March 2019 issue of Christian Doctor’s Digest… we’re talking about getting together with old friends from organizations that we have worked with for many years. Our guests are Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, CEO of Nurses Christian Fellowship and John Stonestreet, host of Breakpoint.
Essay 15: Medicine Needs Challengers
As noted in previous essays, a New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece entitled, “Physicians, Not Conscripts — Conscientious Objection in Health Care,” by Affordable Care Act architect Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and University of Pennsylvania professor Ronit Stahl, advocates for limiting the exercise of conscience objections.
Chasing the Wind
In dental school, several of my instructors would mention their theory of why the suicide rate among dentists was so high, sometimes as a joke or some for serious reasons. One professor’s theory made the most sense to me: Work itself can become very redundant and most restorations eventually fail. You can feel like you’ve worked so hard to bring someone’s mouth into health and restore their smile, but if they don’t take care of their mouth, all of your hard work can fall apart. He also mentioned that if you’re in it for the money, that will fail you too. If all you’ve built your life on is your work and your things, then it’s going to be a big disappointment.
Mountain Wonder
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV 1984).
This Forgiveness Thing
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25, NIV 1984).
We were sitting in a circle, the windows around us open to the East Tennessee Mountains, a group of Christian healthcare professionals sharing personal prayer requests. Andy is in his mid-seventies. He hemmed and hawed a bit before he paused and spit it out, “I need prayer for this forgiveness thing we’ve been talking about.” He paused again, as if almost holding it in, and then continued, “I’ve been divorced 21 years. I know I have forgiven her a number of times for leaving me, but it keeps popping up and interferes with all my thinking. I need your prayers to just settle it.”
On the Side: March 2019
The restaurant play area was already packed with children. I could only imagine the germs that my three 2-year-olds were about to encounter. I could just turn around and walk back to the car – I didn’t know a soul there and they would never miss me. Honestly, the ONLY reason I kept moving forward toward the group gathered from the church we had just visited was because I had told my husband and my mother that I was going and I knew BOTH would ask me how it went.
On the Side: February 2019
The Bible talks about the Keys to the Kingdom.
After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “…the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus told him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:16, 17-19 (NASB)
Disappointment, Rejection and Betrayal, and Reasonable Expectations
My senior pastor instructs that successful Christian living—I would add “or any successful life”—requires being prepared for the inevitability of disappointment, rejection and betrayal. Expectation is not fixation but preparation. The aim is not to sour you on life, but to bullet proof you a bit from its down side and to recognize the prize God provides through it.
Blue Heeler Love
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34, NIV 1984).
He was there to check his iron levels, a bit younger than I with a black, bushy beard. I asked him about the deep scratches on his arms.
“That’s from my dog,” he said.
“What kind of dog do you have?”
“A pit bull,” he said.
“I’d get another kind of dog,” I said, touching the scars on his arms.
“I had two dogs,” he continued. “One of them gave his life for me. I was walking through the woods and nearly stepped on a copperhead. He would’ve struck me, but my blue heeler jumped out and took the bite right in his neck. My pit bull then attacked the snake, took a strike in the face, but killed the snake.”
“What happened to your heeler?”
“He disappeared in the woods for two days. I found him, but he died five days later. That dog died for me.”
No Politics in the Exam Room?
One of the many reasons I entered the medical field was because I innocently thought medicine was apolitical. It did not take very long to see—even as a medical student—how very wrong-headed that idea was! So it was with some surprise that I read recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) the article about Leana Wen, MD, entitled, “New Planned Parenthood President: No Politics in the Exam Room.”
Sheep, Wolves, Serpents and Doves
Let’s face it. Not everyone in the dental “industry” has a passion for oral healthcare. For some, dentistry is a moneymaking opportunity. Christian owners of businesses are sometimes overwhelmed, sometimes misunderstood and sometimes conflicted.
Wanting the Healer
“…for I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26b, NIV 1984).
He was a bit short of breath as he sat on the side of his bed, trying to regain his strength after a therapy complication had placed him on dialysis.
“I think we will hold your cancer treatment for a few weeks,” I told him.
“That will be good,” he said. “It makes me weak.”
“We need you to get your strength back and then we can deal with all your other stuff,” I continued.
He nodded, and then, after a pause for reflection, added, “You know, Cathy and I have decided that we are going to start seeking the Healer more than the healing.”
Civility
A few years ago, at the height of the embryonic stem cell research controversy and public debate, I was asked to be one of four presenters for a Friday medical school forum discussing this topic. There were three other presenters: a semi-retired professor whose area of work was in rehabilitation and advocating for accommodations for persons with disabilities, a social science professor and Dr. X, an MD/PhD whose main area of study was stem cell research. I was the lone conservative.
The Grace of Healing
“Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured” (Mark 1:41-42, NIV 1984).
Thus far he had beaten two cancers, along with chronic hepatitis and severe peripheral vascular disease.
I told him, “You have had more bad happen to you than most anybody I know. You are really an overcomer. Why do you think God has been so good to you?”
“Grace,” he said. “God has just treated me special. I know lots of other folks who had what I got and they didn’t make it.”
“Why are you special?” I asked.
“No reason. I don’t deserve it.”
Edict Aimed at Pro-Life OB/Gyns Shows what “Choose, You Lose” Looks Like in Practice
In a New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece entitled, “Physicians, Not Conscripts — Conscientious Objection in Health Care,” Obamacare architect Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and University of Pennsylvania professor Ronit Stahl advocate ridding healthcare of conscience protections.
Eliminating conscience protections effectively would rid healthcare of doctors, nurses and other health professionals who rely upon those protections. Polling indicates that ethically driven physicians will leave medicine altogether, avoid the OB/Gyn specialty or restrict their practices rather than compromise their consciences.
On the Side: February 2019
The Bible talks about the Keys to the Kingdom.
After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “…the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus told him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:16, 17-19 (NASB)
A Bad Dream
On the first day of my week away from work at the CMDA National Convention, my wife told me, “I had this horrible dream last night.” Now, I’m used to my wife occasionally sharing bad dreams with me, none of which have ever come true; so, I asked her for the details. “I was on this spiral stairway, leading to who knows where. Nora Jane (our 3-year-old granddaughter) was on the bottom step, but the bottom step dropped off into a long fall. A big man was coming down the stairs above me and Nora Jane is afraid of big men. I was scared to death when she looked up in fright and backed off the step into nothingness. I cried out to you and you just stood there looking into your phone.”
Christian Doctor’s Digest – February 2019
The February 2019 issue of Christian Doctor’s Digest…A look into hospitality as a way to evangelize within the home. Conservative Christians admit that they do not speak out on political or cultural issues because they do not know how to support their beliefs from a biblical basis. We’ll look at how to defend the Gospel. And finally, the demands of cross-cultural ministry can be overwhelming and draining, leading to discouragement and burnout. We’ll learn how to live the holy, faithful lives God intends for us.
A Plug for Written Prayers
When I was a young Christian, I thought written prayers were stale, while my own prayers were spontaneous and alive. Now I think the opposite. Left to my own devices, my prayers sound remarkably similar to one another. And by similar, I mean dull. Heartfelt, but dull.
Seeing Beyond the Chief Complaint
Not long ago, a patient walked in to my office and requested tooth whitening. After a brief exam, I found multiple abscessed teeth as well as loose restorative material that posed an aspiration risk. None of these findings seemed to concern him one bit.
The Band Director
Thad Williams underwent the first bone marrow transplant in Memphis when we treated him for his Burkitt’s lymphoma years ago. He and his wife Cathy became dear friends, bound together by their struggle and by our mutual love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thad survived the transplant and lived more than 15 additional years before God called him home. Today, my wife and I attended Cathy’s last concert as band director in her city’s high school, a school system she served for 37 years. It was a celebration of Cathy’s life. Many speakers described her accomplishments and lauded her with words like: kindness, competence, mentor, passion and determination—words that well describe our Lord when He walked the earth. With such praise surrounding her, Cathy conducted her final concert as band director, ending with a magnificent arrangement of “God of Our Fathers.”
Is Dentistry Becoming Dull?
Are class II composites getting old fast? Tired of searching for canals on that maxillary molar? Is dentistry becoming dull? This could be for several reasons, but one thing to consider is how much you are doing your daily work for the glory of God. Are you working for yourself, for others or for the Lord?
Religious Practices are Healthy for Your Children
Dr. David Stevens explores the topic of religious practices and how they can make a difference in your child’s health. He shares about a recent study that shows how a religious upbringing is a very large protective factor on adolescents.
Goals for the Day
Dr. Dave Hafer is a retired maxillofacial surgeon in Montana. He and his wife Bobbie took up painting to fill the Montana winters. They are both incredibly talented and love their new avocation. They love it so much that Dave took it to the Lord and asked Him, “Don’t let this be just for us. Show us how to use it for your glory.” And they have, repeatedly auctioning their work to raise funds for Christian ministries. Last year when they attended a conference for Christian women physicians, an attendee asked him, “Would you consider letting me commission you to do a painting?” Dave replied, “I guess I can do that. What did you have in mind?” The physician answered, “I want a picture of heaven. I want to place it on my office wall so that every morning when I arrive for work, I am reminded of my goal for the day.”
Ethics, Sexuality and Truth
In this week’s blog post, Dr. Autumn Dawn Galbreath shares about a recent talk she listened to on ethics and sexuality, as well as how that impacts her daily practice of healthcare.
The Dilemma of the Grocery Cart
Word pictures represent important tools coaches often use in helping their clients ‘re-frame’ or visualize their lives from a different perspective. And one of the word pictures I have often described involves what I call ‘the dilemma of a grocery cart.
Five Questions
This week Ron was in his wheelchair, at the end of his journey with cancer. I asked him if he had any fears.
“No, I am all right. I know where I am going.”
“That’s great,” I said. “We were reading John 11 in Bible study this week and I have been reassured about my own death.”
“I love John 14:2,” he said. “In my Father’s house are many rooms…” (NIV 1984).
“You are right on,” I said. “You should also check out John 11:25.”
Better Science Without the Ideology of Fetal Tissue
The debate about use of aborted fetal tissue for research continues, usually characterized as pitting science against ideology. Dr. David Prentice explains how the characterization is accurate, but the stereotypes of who fits in the categories are not.
Right of Conscience
He spoke softly but confidently, without bitterness, as he described how he had been removed as chief of psychiatry at his medical university because he had voiced concern over the psychological effects of transgender transformation. It was he who had built the department from four psychiatrists to 17, and the 17 had voted him out. As I left the auditorium, another physician’s husband stopped me, “Do you know my wife may soon be incarcerated?” He then described a new bill moving through their state’s legislature that will make it a crime for physicians not to refer their pregnant patients for abortions when they ask.
“Choose, You Lose” Scheme Threatens All Ethical Professionals
In his continuing series on conscience in healthcare, Vice President for Government Relations Jonathan Imbody discusses how the rationale for conscience protections in healthcare being undermined.
On the Side: January 2019
I usually fly through the process of getting rid of junk email. I zoom through each morning selecting everything that isn’t personal and then hitting the delete key – I hate having a ton of junk cluttering my inbox. But recently, an email from Fitbit caught my eye and gave me pause due to the word Italy in the subject line.
Christian Doctor’s Digest – January 2019
The January 2019 issue of Christian Doctor’s Digest…Moral relativism is at the heart of most of our currently contentious issues relating to sexual freedom: the sanctity of life and the ordering of virtue. Also, what have we learned over the last decade about stem cells? There is enormous potential for medicine, but the debate is, “Where do we get the cells?”
The Jones Dictum
We met for two hours and worked for the Lord—an important ministry in Christian healthcare. Our future work was time sensitive, so we scheduled a telephone conference for the nine of us. The time chosen by the committee was a night when I was on vacation with my family. As an overworking doctor, I gather all of my kids and grandkids once a year to enjoy life together. The committee’s telephone time would land during dinner on one of those vacation nights…and I have spent too many years choosing work and ministry over family. As trivial as it may seem to many who serve the Lord sacrificially, and as atypical as it has been for me in the past, I told the committee, “I won’t miss dinner with my family. I’ll join you once our fellowship is finished.”
Merry Christmas: A Physician’s Take
Luke’s gospel gives the most complete and careful detailing of the setting, annunciation, gestation and birth of Christ, as one would expect from a person of medicine. In this week’s blog post, Dr. Andre Van Mol explores the gospel account of Christ’s birth.
As Best I Can
He sat across me with a swelling on his arm, one-fifth the size it had been before. “You know you are a miracle, don’t you?” I asked. “Most people with your cancer would be in heaven now.”
“He doesn’t want to talk about heaven,” his wife answered for him.
“My brother is a preacher,” he said. “I don’t talk to him much. I’ve been good as best I can.”
“That won’t get you there,” his wife responded.
“If you love Jesus, that will get you there,” I suggested.
He changed the subject, and we finished our medical business. He really was miraculously improved.
A Wrong Turn on the Right Path?
An international outcry occurred after Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced that he and his team had edited human embryos in an attempt to produce children who are resistant to HIV, cholera and smallpox. In this week’s blog post, Dr. Joy Riley explores this topic from an ethical perspective.
Asking
He had a Santa Claus beard but little hair on top. I told him, “You know, you are one of the few over 60 who has been cured of their acute leukemia.”
“Yes, I know,” he said.
“I hope you are telling folks how God has blessed you. “
“I am,” he said. “One thing I tell folks a lot is about the day my wife came in one early morning and saw the sunrise coming into the hospital. I had been having an uncontrolled fever for 10 days. She looked at the sun and prayed to God, ‘Dear God, burn it out.’ That morning after she left, I felt a deep burning inside. I fell off to sleep, harder than I had been sleeping in a long time. About 10:30 I woke up, and I was hungry, and my fever was gone and never returned.”
“Is This Gonna Be On The Test?”
During the 2016 presidential debates, one of the big “scandals” of that season was the discovery that one of the candidates may have known beforehand some of the questions that would be asked during one particular debate. That’s, of course, problematic. It’s a lot easier to answer a question you anticipate or know is going to asked, if you have time to think about it ahead of time, especially if your opponent doesn’t have the same advantage.
Nonconsensual Intimate Physical Examinations: Time to Stop
Recently, a law professor I was breakfasting with asked an interesting question, “Is it ethical to perform pelvic exams on patients who are under anesthesia without their permission?” My immediate response was a quick, “No!” and then, “That is something that was done in the distant past, but the question was settled long ago. Without permission, this would be battery, essentially rape.”
Christmas in the Middle of a Mess
Christmas carols slip past the guardians of cultural sensitivities every now and then, bringing a smile to our souls in the midst of our troubled world. We remember so many times when God broke through history on the pages of His Word to make things new again. We long for a renewal in our lives and world. Sights, sounds, reflections and meditations on Christmas rekindle that hope, and we are reminded that a baby in a small-town stable marked a new beginning in which not just some but all things will one day be made new.
“I’ve Got This.”
You know how it is, or, if you don’t, someday you will. Sleepless nights, where you fall asleep dead tired and awaken at 3 a.m., either to get up and read or toss until morning, begging your mind to shut off. Usually these nights are related to a financial worry, a hurting in one you love or the cumulative effect of a highly stressful week. Well, I’ve had four straight nights of this, trusting God fully in the daylight but not in my dreams. Last night, it was 3 a.m. again, wide awake, focused on the unsolvable issue, dreading my fatigue for the next day. But this time, after praying once again for God to take my burden, I fell asleep. I was running this morning when I heard God speak, in His clear, inaudible voice, “I’ve got this.”
Can Transgender Activism Silence Science?
Vice President for Government Relations Jonathan Imbody discusses the lawsuit CMDA has been involved in regarding the transgender mandate, and how a new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is expected soon.
The “H” in Hospice Stands for “Hope”
When I asked him if there were any other hopes he had at this stage of his life, he just shrugged and said, “Nope, all my hopes are in you guys – the medical profession.” He died three weeks later tragically clinging to tomorrow’s news.
A Biblical Perspective on End of Life Issues
How should Christians come to the end of life? What is the appropriate use of technology to prolong life? How can we assure that when our time to die comes we will do it in answer to the call of God rather than because all of the technology of modern medicine has been exhausted?
On the Side: December 2018
My 12-year-old looked at me as we approached the exit for our usual shortcut home and said “Mom, I think we should go the long way. I can’t see well enough tonight to look for deer.”
And I heard in that statement an immense pressure to keep us safe. I heard in her sweet voice, the weight of staring into the dark and straining to see any animals that might on a whim jump in front of our vehicle. And I heard in my baby girl’s voice cares that I never intended her to carry.
Overcomers
I was surprised to see his name on the schedule, as he had completed his therapy a few years ago. However, in spite of chemotherapy and radiation, his cancer had recently returned and required a laryngectomy. I was seeing him for the first time after this surgery—complicated by a stroke and a pulmonary embolus. He was not the same proud man I remembered. My first words to him were, “I am so sorry you have had such suffering with your stroke and with your voice gone. Can you overcome all of this?” He looked me in the eyes, then looked to my lapel, touched the gold cross pinned there and nodded with assurance.
The Rhythms of Life’s Stresses
As professionals in dentistry, our joy of serving our friends and community becomes a process of repeatedly greeting and warming up old friendships and occasionally rekindling lost friendships. Good dentistry is about befriending our customers, perhaps more than any modern day remaining professions. We still have our role in every responsible community member’s life, providing competent cleaning and check ups every six months (annually for the edentulous).
Trusting Vaccines
Worldwide, only clean water has saved more lives than vaccines. Wild smallpox has been eliminated, and polio nearly so. Twelve other major diseases that were the scourge of mankind have been controlled. So why would anyone not want to control disease? Dr. Amy Givler delves into this question in this week’s blog post on The Point.
Christian Doctor’s Digest – December 2018
The December 2018 issue of Christian Doctor’s Digest deals with the topic of Grace and how we can apply to what is going on in our culture today. Phillip Yancey shares from his book Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to The Good News? as he focuses on the search for honest faith that makes a difference for a world in pain. Then Joe Gregory joins Dr. David Stevens to look back at God’s Grace that He gave to CMDA with their relationship and the growth to the organization that came through it.
Standing Against Physician-Assisted Suicide in Family Medicine
The American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP) Congress of Delegates recently voted during their annual meeting to change their Hippocratic position on assisted suicide to a position of “engaged neutrality.” In this week’s blog post, Dr. David Stevens discusses how dangerous this decision is, and what you can do to get involved.
Bull’s Eye Living
I had the opportunity today to visit my friend, imprisoned outside of San Diego. As this is a government institution, it worked like the government often does, and the computerized visitation scheduling had not functioned well the week before. I arrived at 7:30 and watched other visitors line up by time slots painted in the pavement. I asked what I should do without a time assigned and they told me that they may or may not be able to get me in if I hung around until 11 or 11:30. I was due back at my conference at noon and stood there wondering if I should stay and take the chance. I remained and saw my friend.
Title X Family Planning Program
Dr. Foley explains that non-profit entities, such as community health centers, pregnancy resource centers and others, could serve either as primary grantees serving a state or a particular patient population, or as sub-grantees specializing in certain services.
Assigning Motives
I have recently begun managing a patient who had originally been cared for in a distant city. Unfortunately, his cancer has returned. He now needs multiple doctors to attempt to save his arm and his life. One doctor he is seeing now was furious that the prior doctor had treated him inadequately. He actually told my patient, “You need to sue the doctor who did this.”
Thoughts about Pain and Suffering
All of us suffer, to some extent, through our lifetimes. Those of you who know me know I am a quadriplegic, which limits my ability to do things, and have almost constant neuropathic pain. I have personal experience with pain and suffering, and, being an orofacial pain specialist, I also deal with it on a professional level.
The Lure of Money
In this week’s blog post, Dr. Autumn Dawn Galbreath discusses the topic of money and how easy it is to compare ourselves to others and how much more money they have than we do. How does God call us to view our possessions?
Chipping Away the Sin
I hurt a Christian friend this week. We work with shared responsibilities, and my frustration over his part in this had grown to the point that I just boiled over and listed all of his delinquencies. I was not cruel or untruthful in my delivery, but I was not kind either, and I hurt him deeply. The Lord pounded me for three days, the last one ending in a sleepless night. And then, I went to ask forgiveness.
Christian Doctor’s Digest – November 2018
In this month’s podcast, Dr. David Stevens is first joined by Cary Summers, the president of Museum of the Bible. Next, he interviews author Christopher Yuan about his new book Holy Sexuality and the Gospel.
Treating Patients or Creating New Patients with Technology
In this week’s blog post, Dr. David Prentice discusses how emerging technologies offer opportunities for development of useful therapeutic interventions, but they can also offer temptations to rush ahead with risky, scientifically unproven and ethically questionable applications.
Rushing Waters
I awoke Monday morning planning within the week to teach a Bible study on our personal testimony for Christ. As I stood in front of the mirror, shaving, I realized what a poor witness for Christ I have been, at least in words. So, for the entire week, when I was with my patients, I intentionally listened for the Holy Spirit, asking Him that I might bring up the name of Jesus at least once. Though God has used me for personal witness in the past, He did not this week in words that I could recognize, or else, I chose not to hear Him.
The Pursuit of Truth—Not Politics—Should Guide Research
The contentious confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh mirrored a less outwardly raucous, though equally intense, conflict in the scientific and research community. Our country, our culture and the scientific community appear at a crossroads. We are determining the extent to which objectivity, evidence and reason—as opposed to bias, ideology and emotion—will shape our conclusions and our policies.
On the Side: November 2018
Water is wonderful, glorious stuff. Being from the Gulf Coast originally, I now chafe a bit at my adopted (but sadly landlocked) Nebraska. The only water I can get in here year-round is chlorinated; but I am happy to do that. And every time I find myself up to my elbows in it, trudging from one side of the pool to the other, I try and thank God for creating this beautiful, amazing wet stuff. It simultaneously buoys me up and resists my movements. It also provides many opportunities for me to improve and challenge myself. It is just what I need.
Take Time to Rejoice and Be Glad
One of my fondest memories is singing Psalm 118:24 with my mom on the way to daycare: “This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.”
Transing California Foster Children & Why Doctors Like Us Opposed It
California’s AB2119 should not be law. Signing the bill is a triumph of ideology posing as science. Human beings should be affirmed, not false identities and sexual confusion.
Benchmarks in the Battle
Early this year Dr. Andre Van Mol found himself transitioning from 23 years of solo family practice to employment by a big company, which is enough change for any season. Then came the request to help small teams fight big bills in his state capital of Sacramento, California.
The Learning Cliff
Have you ever had that feeling when you walk into a room and stand there for a few seconds and you have not the slightest recollection as to why you walked into that room? But you know, by golly, you know it was something very important and you look around as a minute or two passes.
Where’s the Oil?
My friend was stuck at home with a history of strokes that had left him with fair cognition but difficulty ambulating. I ran by today to check on him and had a mostly cogent time of catching up. As we looked back on the mistakes of our youth, we voiced our mutual gratitude that Jesus has forgiven us. My friend, who may be closer to heaven than I, began to talk about Jesus returning. “One day Jesus will come, and he will be sitting across this table from us. I can hear him saying, ‘Didn’t I tell you so?’” Then he added, “That’ll be the day we should have got it right the day before.”
What’s in a Name?
In this week’s blog post, Dr. Joy Riley discusses how verbiage makes a big difference in how physician-assisted suicide is promoted and transformed to make it more palatable to the general population.
Born Again Christian
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46, NIV 1984).
My fellow saw the patient first and showed me the medical records that came with her, written by the doctor to whom she was first referred. “Patient desires to see a doctor who is a born-again Christian. I believe it is not best for me to manage her case. I will refer her to Dr. ____.” When I sat down in the room with the patient, as my fellow looked on, the husband spoke first, “Before we get started, I need to ask you a question, because it is important to us, ‘Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?’” It was easy to answer, “I certainly have.”
Christian Doctor’s Digest – October 2018
In this month’s podcast, Dr. David Stevens interviews Dr. John Dunlop, M.D. and Dr. Wendy Kang, M.D., JD.
On the Side: October 2018
It wasn’t the first time I had endured it, but it was the first time we named it, claimed it and fought. Glory to God. The remainder of those four years in medical school were beautiful.
Intolerance of Conscience Threatens Diversity in Medicine
In his continuing series on conscience in healthcare, Jonathan Imbody shares about a recent conference he attended with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on religious freedom and how that impacts CMDA student chapters around the country.
Scared to Life
I was seeing him for his third melanoma. Each one before had been cured by surgery and this one was also likely to turn out well. He looked at me and remarked, “It was the first one that really frightened me.” His wife added, “But, it brought him to the Lord.” “That’s wonderful,” I said. “Yep, it scared the hell out of him.”
Cloning Dollars
Cloning is an extremely lucrative business that has become more efficient. In today’s blog post, Dr. David Stevens explores this topic and shares what the Bible says about cloning, as well as the moral and ethical implications of this rising business.
Wearing the Cross
I am not an overtly religious person. I prefer to enter quiet conversations that lead to discussions of our Savior. I don’t like wearing my faith on a lapel…until recently. We were attending a CMDA event in Raleigh-Durham when Dr. Craig Fowler handed out gold crosses. I looked to see if he was wearing one and he was. He challenged us to put them on our own lapels. It now rests each day on the left lapel of my white coat and I am impressed that it has more likely changed me than affected the folks around me.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and courage to change the things I can…
How do you feel when it’s time to get ready for work? Are most mornings full of excitement about which patients are on your schedule and what you have to offer them? Or are most mornings filled with dread? If it’s the latter, you are not alone.
Christian Doctor’s Digest – September 2018
In this month’s podcast, Dr. David Stevens interviews Dr. Stan Haegert about burnout prevention for healthcare professionals. Then he’s joined by Joni Eareckson Tada, the founder and CEO of Joni and Friends.
The Quality Control of Life
Manufacturing industries routinely do quality control on their products, testing them to be certain the items being produced meet certain specifications. Any flawed products, those that do not meet the required specifications, are discarded. But what if that same mindset were applied to human beings?
Camaraderie in Faith: How CMDA’s Psychiatry Section Found Strength in Numbers
This patient—we’ll call him “Howard”—was suffering from a moderately progressed stage of Huntington’s disease and the depression that often accompanies the illness. After failing numerous antidepressant medications, his depression had not improved.
Providing Healing After the Hurricane
CMDA Member Dr. Cindy Anthis found herself facing an unexpected situation when her local community in Texas was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. In this article from the winter 2017 edition of Today’s Christian Doctor, Dr. Anthis shares how her clinic responded to the hurricane and its aftermath.
Remedy: Healing for the Nations
In this article from the winter 2017 edition of Today’s Christian Doctor, Dr. David Stevens introduces Remedy, CMDA’s new medical missions conference.
Development: Genuine Change Through Partnership
What is the role of Christian healthcare professionals in authentic community development? Dr. Mark Crouch discovers this topic in the cover story from the winter 2017 edition of Today’s Christian Doctor.
How Big Are Your Rocks?
Did you have a sling shot when you were a kid? I did, and I used to pick up rocks and pebbles from our driveway to use as ammunition when I plinked tree trunks, scared birds away from eating our garden and knocked cans off a stone wall.
Side By Side: Changing Lives for 30 Years
After an interviewing trip in 1987, my husband announced he wanted to complete his residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. To this day, I still remember hearing myself say, “That’s fine, honey. We could go there and have a ministry to internationals because many people from all parts of the world come there for training and then return to their homeland. It would be a great reverse mission field!”
Sued or Fired? Riding the Emotional Rollercoaster
Would you prefer to endure a medical malpractice lawsuit, or would you rather be terminated from your employment? Is there much difference in your emotional rollercoaster ride with either option? Would you want somebody who has ridden that rollercoaster before to assure you that the hellish ride will eventually finish?
VIE Poster Session: Supporting Academic Medicine through Good Craftsmanship
Throughout history, Christian academics were renowned for their scientific excellence. For a variety of reasons, “Christian” and “scientist” now seem like contradictory terms to many people.
On the Side: September 2018
We were at the pediatrician for my triplets’ 1-year-old well-baby visit. Dr. M looked at me and asked how the babies were enjoying solid food.
Today’s Christian Doctor – Fall 2018
In the fall 2018 edition of Today’s Christian Doctor, Kenneth Lim, MD, considers how to sustain a lifetime of emotionally healthy spirituality in medicine. We look at CMDA’s Medical Malpractice Ministry, our Side By Side ministry, our VIE Poster Sessions, and Dr. Stevens discusses facing California as we fight Physician-Assisted Suicide.
Testimony: Michael H. Clark, MD
Testimony of Michael H. Clark, MD
Against LD 1313
An Act to Enact the Maine Death with DignityAct